June 2015 will go down in history as being a very historic month on both sides of the 49th parallel (US/Canada border).
At the beginning of the month, Canadians across the country marched together in support of the Truth and Reconciliation Summit in Canada's capital, Ottawa. During the final summit (there had been nine previous ones held throughout the country over the last five years), a final report will be issued by the TRC chairman, Commissioner Justice Murray Sinclair.
In his speech to those gathered and to the nation of Canada-Native and non-Native-Justice Sinclair presented 94 recommendations made by the commission on what Canadians will need to do-both the national government and individual citizens-to see that impactful, recognizable and positive changes are made as we move forward.
South of the border, there were the terrible events in Baltimore following the death of an African American at the hands of white police officers. These racial tensions were preceded by riots and protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after another young African American was also killed by white police.
Then towards the end of the month, we heard about the horrific killing of nine African Americans during a weekly Bible study in a historic Charleston, South Carolina church. This killing was carried out by a 21-year-old white racist who had been indoctrinated via the Internet by white supremacists and hate-mongers.
These events are quite different, but there are more similarities than opposites. They both reveal deep-seated issues that are basically the same no matter the ethnic group, color, or "tribal" roots.
We as human beings are basically creatures who are concerned more about survival and our rights, and while there is a lot of talk about "community" and "family," we are quite selfish. Throughout history, as North American systems developed over the last 500 years, the societies we have set up have caused us all to become more introverted when it comes to our own interests, desires, and "intents of the heart." It's more about me and my "group" than about the whole.
The TRC just completed a five-year massive project travelling across Canada interviewing over 7,000 Aboriginal survivors of Residential Schools and having sharing circles so people who had kept painful memories bottled up inside for some 40 years or more, were finally given a chance to unburden their hearts and spirits without any fear of being criticized, judged or embarrassed. These opportunities alone have been redeeming and transforming for thousands.
For many non-Aboriginals, this was the first time they heard or read first-hand reports of what our Native children-now parents, grandparents and great grandparents-went through and why the North American population needs to sit up and take notice. That includes all of us.
The events that have happened over the last year are all outward symptoms of broken hearts and a troubled society.
An excellent book came out in 2013 entitled "Buffalo SHOUT, Salmon CRY: Conversations on Creation, Land Justice, and Life Together," edited by Steve Heinrichs, (Herald Press). In the introduction, Steve writes that "for generations, we have been told by government, church, and business in the United States and Canada that there's an "Indian problem," and that the European settlers can fix it through education, salvation, or economic development. But the disturbing truth is-and some people reading this many not want to read this-that the problems Indigenous People face today have not been created by Indians. The problems, as Luther Standing Bear said, are 'due to the white man's cast of mind.'" And the same can be said for African Americans.
Heinrichs writes that this is not about demonizing white people or trying to make them feel guilty. "...there are many morally outstanding white people (just as there were no doubt, Ninevites in Jonah's time)."
Our hope is that, along with Steve Heinrichs, "...a few people in our mainstream society might feel unsettled by what they have grown up with, and stirred to join a tradition that goes back centuries."
Like the author, we recognize the foolishness of such thinking. "Like Jonah, we, in part, doubt whether these words will make a real difference. But we recognize that life really depends on it. The problems between White and Black and White and Native (Brown) are many. They are very weighty and almost overwhelming. Sometimes we feel that maybe we should put on sackcloth and shut our eyes to the deathly injustice around us and to those who tell us that this isn't righteous and it isn't godly. Perhaps we just need to-
Fall on our knees
Pray for strength
And rise to struggle to develop meaningful relationships between Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. And maybe, just maybe, something miraculous will come from it."
